Re-imagining Leadership Through Nature,
Art and Community

The Soul of Place offers a new context for leadership

grounded in our relationship with nature and ecology, the creative spirit and community.

The Soul of Place

About the book

In The Soul of Place, Michael Jones explores how our relationship with place aligns us with the underlying patterns of life. He does so through stories that ask: what is our experience of homecoming and how do we find our way there? What is our pattern of belonging – including our relationship with people and places – that we hold sacred? What are the conditions of regenerativity and craft that enable us to give birth to something new? How can our stewardship of what is alive within and around us awaken the mythic imagination? And, how does this open a path for gathering together in a spirit of transformative celebration? Read more…

The Soul of Place is supported by the Fetzer InstituteThe Soul of Place by Michael Jones

What others are saying about The Soul of Place

Michael Jones sees the world through many lenses – artist, leader, teacher. citizen. In The Soul of Place, he draws from these rich perspectives to craft a fresh and life-affirming approach to leading in these chaotic, complex times – an approach that opens us to the ingenious, generative force of place in our individual and collective lives.

— Barbara McAfee, Singer/songwriter and Author
Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence

As I read The Soul of Place I saw the power of Michael’s words and the beauty of his music on every page. This book is a refreshing reframing on leadership through nature and art. Buy the book for the beauty of the book cover. Read the book for the nourishment of your mind and soul.

— Cynthia Cherrey,
President, International Leadership Association

In the Soul of Place Michael Jones offers a richly textured, multidisciplinary examination of place, and asserts ‘that too often the places we create are placeless because they don’t include our stories’. Michael imagines place as something more than merely physical geography, and suggests instead, a transformative possibility of place, encouraging leaders to engage with nature, art, community – and embrace their role as placemakers.

— Nick Nissley, Ed.D.
Dean, Business Technologies
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College

Creating spaces for large group transformational learning to occur has been the heart of my work for 20 years, and Michael Jones’ presence and his written words have contributed significantly to this work. This book is an extraordinary example of the power of place and how stories of place, especially as communicated through the arts and through conversation have the ability to transform communities and organizations.

— Charles Holmes,
CE Holmes and Associates

As I read The Soul of Place, I felt a deep and resonant ‘YES!’ reverberating through my bones. This is an important book. With the wisdom of a prophet and the heart of an artist, Michael Jones paints a hopeful picture of a world in which artists, gardeners, musicians, and carnival callers invite us to reconnect with the imaginal cells within us that call us into a more beautiful future.

— Heather Plett,
Coach, writer and facilitator

Biography

Michael Jones is a leadership educator, speaker, creative facilitator and pianist/composer. The Soul of Place is his third in a series of books on re-imagining leadership. Others in the series include: Artful Leadership: Awakening the Commons of the Imagination and Creating an Imaginative Life. You can find out more about Michael on his other website: www.pianoscapes.com